CHAPTERNINETEEN_CONNECTIONS
October 16, 2032

 It’s the next day. Nathan and Rachel were at a coffee shop for simple date. Rachel began talking about the upcoming homecoming dance, and fundraising events for her cheer squad. Nathan, on the other hand, was lost in thought.

 Ever since his parents told him that his biological parents want to see him, he had mixed feelings, and distanced himself from everyone. He knew he was adopted. He never expected his real parents to express interest in meeting him. Now they do? He wasn’t even sure where he’s really from. Based on the mark he gave Rachel, he was from Israel, but that’s all he knew.

 As Nathan kept losing himself in his thought, Rachel stopped talking. She noticed he was distant, so snapped her fingers, and said, “Hello? Nathan!”

 Nathan blinked, and looked at her. He said, “Oh, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

 Rachel looked at him with concern. She asked him, “What’s going on, babe?”

 He said, and explained, “Remember I told you that I’m adopted?”

 She nodded her head.

 “Well, my biological parents want to meet with me. There’s no set date yet. They’re waiting for an answer from me. So far, I have no idea what to say.”

 That made Rachel feel a tug on her heart. She saw how conflicted he felt about this. She held his hands, and told him, “I’ll stand by whatever decision you make. If you want to meet them, then I can go with you. If you don’t want to, then we don’t have to see them. Okay?”

 Nathan gave a small smile, and gently squeezed her hands. He told her, “I’ll let you know what I come up with. I’m so glad I have met you.”

 Rachel smiled and blushed. She asked him, “You don’t ever loving me? Even when I was hurting you as a Normal?”

 He sighed, and said, “I was hurt and confused. I felt slightly possessive of you. But regardless, I never gave up on loving you. I never have, and I never will.”

 She blushed more. He gave her a light kiss on her lips. 

 About an hour later, Rachel was dropped off at her house. As she went inside, she saw some luggage in the living room. She looked at her parents, and asked, “Mum, daddy, what’s going on?”

 Tristan told her to sit down. She did. He said, “You’re moving out.”

 That stunned Rachel. She asked, “What? You’re kicking me out? Mum!”

 Rebecca sighed, “I have to agree with your father here. You’re a monster. We cannot have a monster living with us.”

 She looked at her mother with shock. She tells her parents, “Mum, dad, I’m not a monster! I’m still me! I’m still your daughter!”

 Rebecca looks at Rachel with mixed emotions, and then she walks off. Tristan, on the other, sat there on the couch. He looked up, and asked, “Want to know why I don’t like Gen-Mods? They’re unethical!”

 Rachel looks at her dad with mixed emotions. She was confused, yet angry, but sad. All at the same time. Tristan could see her eyebrows furrowed.

 He explains: “Okay, when I was attending an upper school, I was studying in the school’s library. I remember being on my laptop. I’m pretty sure I was listening to music. I eventually looked away from my laptop. I saw a group of teenagers hovering over a table. They seemed like they were debating over something. I saw books and papers on the table. I was curious. I wanted to find out what was going on. So I approached them. I asked them what they were up to. I immediately recognized this group as some of the students going into the field of science. They gave me the ugliest looks you could ever imagine. They picked up their items, and left as soon as possible.

 “When I arrived back to my dorm, I told my roommate what I saw. He was also studying in the field of science. He told me what he knew at the time. He said he was friends with the leader, and is part of the team. He told me that they’re working on creating life, all because the leader’s girlfriend miscarried and lost her chance of ever getting pregnant. They all got accepted into Harvard, Yale, MIT, you name it. This was intentional so they can work closely together. 

 “I told my roommate that it was unethical and possibly illegal what they were doing. He said they all knew that, but the leader was bent on creating life. 

 “As soon as I heard it became affordable to have ‘name-brand’ babies, I knew immediately what those babies were. They were people created by people. I looked more into it, and I found more interesting information. These children had 10% of wolf DNA. They had nuclear radiation in their systems, which would kill them if they don’t have a high dosage of iron before they eat food.  They had a microchip implanted in their brains to keep their humanity intact. These children are practically built to be incredibly invincible, to be extremely beautiful, and just...perfect!”

 When Rachel saw that he was done speaking, she asked, “So? What’s the problem? What’s wrong with me being invincible, beautiful, and perfect?”

 Tristan said, “Your mother also had trouble getting pregnant. So…we went to a science lab in America. We asked to help your mother to have a baby. They agreed. They even asked if we wanted certain desirable traits in you. We wanted you to be a smart, sweet girl.

 “I had to take out massive amounts of loans just to pay for you to be born. To this day, I’m still in debt. 16 years later, and the scientists still own you.”

 With that, Rachel became angry. She couldn’t believe what she heard. Her parents paid for her “creation,” and they were broke from this. Then she had a bad thought. She asked her father, “Daddy…what does me being a designer baby have to do with me now as a Gen-Mod?”

 Tristan breathed deeply, and said, “If those scientists find out that you’re now this…mutant, they’ll start breathing down my neck. They’ll consider your value is worthless.”

 That made her even angrier. So with that, she took her bags. She told Tristan with boldness, “You and mum can go to hell with your debts.”

 With that, Rachel left her house. She put her things into her car, and drove off. She wasn’t sure where to go. The only thing she could think of is to crash Nathan’s place. She parked in front of her house. 

 She got out, and walked up to the house. She knocked on the door. It was opened by Ashley. She saw Rachel looked upset. Rachel asked with her voice wavering, “Can I move in here please? My parents kicked me out because I’m a Gen-Mod.”

 Ashley felt her heart being tugged. She told her, “Of course! You can room with our daughter Bethany. We’ll have to set some ground rules for you and Nathan, but yes, we’ll take you in.”

 She sniffed, “Thank you, Ashley. Where’s Nathan?”

 “He’s upstairs.”

 Rachel nodded her head, and ran upstairs. She saw Nathan’s door was opened. He wasn’t in his room. Then she felt his presence was near. She turned, and saw Nathan standing there. 

 He noticed she looked upset, so he asked, “Babe, what’s wrong?”

 With that, Rachel hugged him tightly, and began crying. He led her to his room, and comforted her by cuddling her. They remained like that for the rest of the day.